Chief: Newington Military Vehicle 'No Grenade Launcher'

Newington's BAE Caiman 6-wheel

Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant

The BAE Caiman 6-wheel at the Newington Highway Garage in August. Newington acquired the vehicle through a federal program that provides excess military hardware to state and municipal law enforcement agencies at little or no cost.

The BAE Caiman 6-wheel at the Newington Highway Garage in August. Newington acquired the vehicle through a federal program that provides excess military hardware to state and municipal law enforcement agencies at little or no cost. (Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant)

CHRISTOPHER HOFFMANSpecial to the Courant

Newington MRAP Will Be Used For Transport

NEWINGTON -- At the request of a town councilwoman, Police Chief Richard C. Mulhall sought to reassure the public Tuesday about planned uses of its new mine- and ambush-proof armored vehicle.

"There's no grenade launcher," Mulhall said. "There's no .50 caliber machine gun. This is not an offensive vehicle. This is a transport."

The town is among scores of communities nationwide that have acquired surplus MRAP (Mine Proof Ambush Resistant) vehicles from the military. The vehicle is six-wheel-drive and was designed to carry troops into combat in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon program providing MRAPs and other surplus military equipment to police agencies has come under scrutiny since police in Ferguson, Missouri deployed one of the vehicles during protests sparked by the shooting of a black man by a white police officer. President Barack Obama has since ordered a review of the program.

Mulhall said that the department wanted the MRAP primarily to protect SWAT team members and extract civilians during a shooting.

"The idea of the vehicle is the pod itself is protected from small caliber arms and large caliber arms, which are prevalent in society today," Mulhall said. "This vehicle offers another method of protecting the town, when necessary."

Mulhall and Town Manager John Salomone said that the vehicle would also be useful during severe storms that force emergency vehicles off the road. Salomone cited an incident in which a woman went into labor at the height of one such recent storm.

"The vehicle will not be moved by wind," Salomone said. "It can go over (downed) trees. I look at this as giving us the edge we try to have in Newington to be as safe as we can."

Mulhall and Salomone elaborated on the vehicle's uses at the request of Councilwoman Maureen Klett. Klett said that residents had come to her worried about the vehicle.

We've had officers die in this town. Anything we can do to protect police officers is good.— Majority Leader Terry Borjeson

"I think what I'm really worried about is, are there are policies and procedures governing use of it," she said. "To have this type of vehicle show up in somebody's neighborhood may be more frightening than reassuring."

Mulhall said that the department has developed protocols for the vehicle's use.

"I understand the questions from the public," Mulhall said. "They do need to be reassured."

Majority Leader Terry Borjeson said he supported the town's decision to acquire the vehicle.

"We've had officers die in this town," Borjeson said. "Anything we can do to protect police officers is good."

The town acquired the vehicle after Manchester requested it from the military, but then changed its mind, Mulhall said. Local police have made little use of the surplus program otherwise, he said.

The MRAP is undergoing $54,000 in modifications, including the addition of radios and lights and removal of gun ports, and will be ready for use in about four weeks, Mulhall said. Changes will include a less military paint scheme, he said.

"We'll tone it down substantially," he said. "It'll look more like a police vehicle."